Q&As

Feb. 7, 2006 The Talbots Inc. said it will acquire cataloger and retailer The J. Jill Group Inc. for $517 million in cash, beating out rival suitor Liz

MARKETERS BARELY GOT a chance to breathe a sigh of relief over the death of a do-not-e-mail bill in Illinois when two more fronts opened up in the battle

WHAT’S WITH THIS EXPLOSION OF BLOGS? Every schoolkid has one. Every would-be author or philosopher has one. Every frustrated lover has one. That’s why

One direct marketing ad executive was so fed up with the way some clients treat agencies that he risked a heart attack to draw attention to their misbehavior.

WRITING THIS ISSUE’S Pushing the Envelope is a bit like coming out of a time warp. My last three columns were written way back in early fall 2005, prior

THOSE WHO OVERSEE THE DIRECT mail industry’s welfare dread the beginning of every new legislative year. I’m undecided whether this should be characterized

It is an intriguing plot line: fast cars, screaming fans, romantic women and dinner with a handsome driver. If it sounds like something out of a Harlequin

HERE’S ANOTHER BRAND AD THAT TAKES A LITTLE figuring out.

The most important elements seem to be one of the headlines, “How About a Free Hand?” and a picture of a woman’s hand holding a soccer ball signed by Olympic champion soccer player Carla Overbeck.

Just over half of all Web-using consumers report abandoning their shopping carts on sites where they’d intended to make a purchase. If that’s not enough,

TIME-TESTED ADVICE Thanks to Katie Muldoon for sharing her tips on developing clean and compelling catalog design (Direct From Muldoon, January). Over